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When I received an HP iPAQ several years ago, I immediately began wondering how I might be able to use it to improve classroom observations. I was in a school improvement leadership position at the time that required me to collect data from classroom observations, and this was a difficult process with the traditional pen-and-paper methods we were using at the time. The administrators on campus were used to using printed observation forms that did not allow for easily accessible data. Documentation was also not uniform, which made proper data collection nearly impossible at the time.

There are a lot of teachers out there who are successfully using technology to bring the curriculum to life for their students. Yesterday, Google recognized eight teachers for their creativity in using the 3D Google Earth application to create lessons about ancient Rome.

Google uses a doodling competition to encourage thoughtful creativity and artistic skills in the classroom.

The Web search-engine company Google Inc. has unveiled a package of online interactive tools, curriculum resources, and lesson plans for teachers.

This story from WIRED NEWS discusses how Google is trying to push and attract more aspiring programmers to the open-source world with its Google Summer of Code project. As part of the initiative, undergraduate students are paid to work on complex code projects over the summer while being mentored by some of the industry's leading programmers. Those selected for the summer of code project get a $4500 stipend for their efforts.